Living on a small, remote island, I have tried buying a few plants. Daylilies and bulbs worked fine. But if there is any delay in receipt, the real plants didn't do as well. I have gone the seed route, and with minimum equipment, there is a large selection available worldwide. I wanted some bamboo, found a place in Germany, and now I'm giving it a go. Eucomis, vitex, sophra - all from seed.

Hamylalo, Crocus are a very good company and deliver, well to mainland certainly, very good plants, you could try them. If you don't buy they are nice to looks at !

I agree entirely with Grandmage. My deliveries from Crocus have been very high quality plants and the packaging is faultless, delivered by courier within 48 hours (excluding weekends) of order.

Thanks very much for your replies. Unfortunately Crocus don't deliver to the Isle of Man, I checked out their website and it says apologies if you live in the Isle of Man! That is my issue really, finding somewhere that does deliver and hoping whatever I choose is still alive and kicking when it reaches me!

Whatever you do avoid J Parkers (they trade independently but also are the suppliers for the Guardian gardening section) - they may be Ok for bulbs but for plants they are awful